Quick Guide to Gas Safety at Festivals (+ WIN a £100 experience!)

I still have a few festivals left on my summer playlist – I’ll be going to Atlas Festival in Yorkshire this weekend, and then in August I’m off to MS Dockville in Hamburg, Germany. And of course, I’ll be spending the August Bank Holiday at Victorious Festival in Southsea, which is so close to my house it’s pretty much in my garden.

Unfortunately though, I won’t be camping at any of these; my big camping one for this year was the almighty Glastonbury. Had so much fun there.

Last time I went to Glasto, in 2012, we took a gas stove and had freshly made coffee every morning, soups, sausages and beans – what a dream. This year though, we were so close to taking it in, even bought a spare canister and then at the last minute decided to leave it in the car, mainly because none of us wanted to be responsible for carrying it, or making the morning coffee.

It’s not just laziness though, if you’re planning on taking a gas stove to a festival to save on costs and for the convenience, you need to think about the safety aspect too.

I’ve partnered with Gas Safe Register to help you stay safe while your sausages sizzle, and to give away a £100 buyagift.com voucher.

A £100 buyagift.com voucher!

You can spend it on all sorts from hotel breaks to afternoon escapes, skydiving, helicopters and foodie experiences. See below for how to enter, but first…

The science

Whether you’re glamping or camping at a festival, get one thing ‘centre stage’ in your mind – barbecuing safely.

When gas stoves and barbecues are around, you need to be really careful, because carbon monoxide (CO) can be released into the air.

You can’t smell, see or taste carbon monoxide, and what’s more it’s easy to confuse the side effects of carbon monoxide poisoning with a hangover, which makes it all the more dangerous at festivals when you’re letting your hair down.

If you have a headache, and feel sick or breathless think back and make sure that you haven’t been exposed to CO gas at any point. I mean, it could totally be a hangover, and of course, is much more likely, but CO poisoning is tricky to spot when it shares its symptoms with much more well-known health worries.

Millennial mishaps

Around 20% of millennials are likely to put themselves at risk from CO poisoning by not using barbecues safely.

– New research by the Gas Safe Register.

That’s a lot. If maths isn’t your forte that’s a fifth of us. Well, I’m at the older end of the whole millennial thing (anyone born since 1980) but I’m still hanging in there.

Anyway, let’s not do that to ourselves. Here are a few guidelines for your tent safety at festivals.

5 tips for tent and gas safety at festivals

1. Never use a barbecue inside the tent

2. Don’t bring your barbecue or stove into the tent even after you have finished cooking and the barbecue is cooling down as it can still release harmful carbon monoxide that you definitely don’t want to be inhaling. It’s always best to leave barbecues outside, whether you’re cooking on them or not.

3. Once lit you need to watch that barbecue or stove like a hawk – and don’t leave it burning or smouldering while sleeping.

4. Always read the instructions that come with your barbecue or stove to make sure you’re using it properly.

5. Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning as it can easily be mistaken for other illnesses – that’s why it’s known as the ‘silent killer’. Signs include headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness and collapse or lack of consciousness.

Gas safety songs for your festival playlist

Gas Safe Register (where you can make sure someone working on your gas appliances is legally qualified to do so) put together a Spotify and Apply Music playlist for you to remember to stay safe this summer, called ‘Gas Safe Summer Playlist’. Some of those selections are a little close to the bone, but they’re good tunes so let’s stick with it.

T in the Park with a painted face and a bunch of good friends! That and seeing my favourite acts at the Edinburgh Fringe. Writing that has made me realise: I don't think I've been to a festival outside of Scotland. I should try harder; there are so many amazing ones in England and further afield.

I went to a festival recently with my best mate and it rained the entire time. We got amongst them all in our wellies and raincoats and had an amazing time. These things are usually only as good as you make them so never be disheartened by the weather.

I've had loads of fab festival experiences but my all time favourite was taking my son to his first when he was 9. We started small with a weekend at Strummer Camp and he had a smile on his face all weekend. He got to meet a couple of the bands backstage and now has a love of live music (He's 23 now and we still go to gigs together)

I took my daughter to British Summer Time festival last year and her favourite band was playing Years and Years. We had VIP tickets and got some amazing photos and we had the best time ever with the awesome crowd

I've never been to a festival! I would love to but I never seem to buy the tickets in time or have all the money when I need it - I think I might need to try and save up soon to actually have a festival experience!

Oh my, I feel old. Monsters of Rock (Guns n Roses and Iron Maiden) a long long time ago, was a day, but we did camp. Can't face one now, too expensive, and pesky MS does get in the way rather. My daughter played at WGT Leipzig this year, that's pretty cool.

I used to love the Leeds festival back in the day. The last one I attended many years ago whilst a few months pregnant I remember thinking to myself as I sheltered from a torrential downpour in a portaloo "at least I'll have a good excuse not to do this again for a while!". Now the children are older maybe I should think about festival going again. Or maybe not!

I've never been to a Festival. The idea of the toilets and the horror stories I've heard put me off. I may sometime hire a bit Camper Van and go to one so I could have my own loo. I have gone to a lot of music gigs in theatres however.

I've been to a few local festivals but hundreds of music gigs. I visited Festwich this weekend which is a local rock festival with tribute acts. The weather was lovely which always makes it much more enjoyable

I was very lucky one year and won VIP tickets to V festival - took my bestie with me and we had a brilliant time even though it did rain we thought we looked dashing in our poncho's! Best thing ever was being able to go into the VIP area to use the clean toilets whenever we needed!!

I've never been to a festival before but would love to go! I got tickets to Kendal calling but unfortunately the child care I had for my twins was ill so I had to step aside and allow my partner to go with his friend instead. Would love the opportunity to finally get to a festival one day :-)

Only ever been to one, Glastonbury 1989, sunny all weekend, totally chilled out with my 8 year old who learnt to ride a uni-cycle and juggle, and an 11 month old baby who had the best view from the baby carrier on his father's back. Need to be promised the same sunshine to go to another.

Probably David Bowie at Glastonbury 2000 just after sunset - might have been the Pet Shop Boys on just before him - and he was everything I'd ever imagined him to be. Just magical. Literally one of my Heroes x

I went to my first festival this year as my husband won the Epic Entrance competition with Strongbow. We were flown to the Isle of Wight festival in a helicopter and were really well looked after. I had previously thought I was too old for festivals at 51, but absolutely loved everything about the weekend. I am now planning to go to Victorious this month and would love to return to Isle of Wight again next year.

I'd have to say Let's Rock Norwich a month or so ago, simply because it was so close to home. That & the fact that most of my teenage pin-ups were there...Belinda Carlisle, Kim Wilde & Bananarama. I just needed Blondie to complete the set & we saw her a week later at BST Hyde Park. Happy days! 👍🏻